


After War There Is -

by SincerelyYourNightmare



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Study, Let's ignore Severus' death shall we, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Severus Snape Lives, mostly a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 16:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18450344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SincerelyYourNightmare/pseuds/SincerelyYourNightmare
Summary: Severus Snape just wanted to get back to work. Really. That's it. He's fine.





	After War There Is -

**Author's Note:**

> I mostly forgot I could post things here, so I've got a major backlog of ideas and snippets. This one seemed nearly ready so I edited a bit and then decided to just go for it before I talked myself out of it. If you spot anything horrible grammatically that offends, comment.  
> Don't know if it's going to be a multi-chaptered thing because that would require plot and all that jazz.  
> Seems to me it wants to be the beginning of something pretty depressing.

When the last Aurors had left the castle, there was an almost palpable aura lingering in the hallways. As per usual, the ghosts floated into whichever room they wanted with complete disregard for trivial things like courtesies or doorways, but they did so with disturbing serenity. Peeves was nowhere to be found but everyone was too distracted to be nervous. Paintings that had never even talked to one another met up to quietly look at a different part of Hogwarts than they usually did. Silence seemed to reign even among large groups of students and teachers, as in a church or a library. Some places demanded silence, and through the battle that had rampaged in and around this particular Scottish castle, Hogwarts had been transformed into such a place with magic unknown.  
  
A small isle of non-silence prevailed, and this was the Infirmary. St Mungo’s was only equipped for so many beds and Medi-magicians to work on spell-damage. Madame Pomfrey had firmly told anyone who tried to move the critical cases to more ‘professional care’ to stuff it. She was the caretaker of everyone who needed her and the Potions that Professor Snape was churning out daily were fresher and more potent than any under-staffed, over-worked hospital ward could provide.  
  
Due to the overflow of people that needed Healing, there were people that were just waiting around, either for specific counter-curses that needed to be researched or for specific Potions to arrive form the Dungeons. Essence of Dittany had run out in the first two hours after the battle. People being people, they made their own entertainment that skirted Mme Pomfrey’s strict rules; the most common one by far was gossip and story-telling.  
  
Professor Snape was something of an exception to Pomfrey’s obsessive mothering. His reasoning was very simple: he had work to do. Something so minor as a venomous snake bite that leaked pus and blood down his front every now and then would not deter him from his goal. She had squinted at him with exhausted eyes, snorted, and given him a list and a Pepper-Up.  
  
A week after the madness had abated somewhat, Severus turned from his cauldron-juggling just in time to see Hermione Granger step through his office doorway. There was a pause where only low bubbling could be heard. Then there was a sigh that was so disconnected from his own nose, it surprised Severus to hear it. He motioned towards a stool by the other end of the bench he was monitoring.  
  
“What can I do for you, Miss Granger?” he said. A cauldron that was on the verge of spitting violet sparks was stabilised with a flick of his wand. His eyes only left her for half a second.  
  
“I wanted to come see how you were,” she said. His eyes tracked hers when she looked at his rows of brewing Potions.  
  
“As you can plainly see, what I am is busy.” He motioned at the objects of her study with his wand and made a tired mental note that she didn’t flinch. “If you would excuse me, I still have many things to take care of before night.”  
  
Granger blinked.  
  
“It’s three o’clock in the morning, Professor,” she said, and Severus felt a flash of momentary anger at her flat tone. “And I asked how you were feeling, not what you were doing.”  
  
“Silly girl, I’m feeling -,” he muttered and swayed a little when he stood to make another round. He reached for his neck in an automatic motion and felt something sticky come away.  
  
“Are you,” she said. He didn’t answer her, because the cobblestone floor was getting far too close, far too quickly to think about anything else. 

 

Severus was almost shocked when he woke up lying on his own sofa, facing the roaring fire he kept stoked to chase away the chill of the Dungeons. He would have put money on Granger panicking and Levitating him all the way back to the Madame’s clutches.  
  
“You fainted.” There was a pop from a log that drew his attention and mesmerised him into seeing only flames, even when he blinked. “I kept your Potions going, by the way. Started some new ones. Pomfrey wanted some more Dreamless Sleep reserves.” The black blended into the yellow and the little white worms on the logs superimposed themselves to make nauseating artwork on his eyelids. “You slept for 16 hours. It’s seven o’clock. The elves have probably just finished making dinner.”  
  
Whatever the girl was trying to lead the conversation to, she would have to get there herself. All that he would do was watch the fire either until it went out, or until he fell asleep. He had just enough presence of mind to make this decision and promptly used up all of the energy his body had accumulated during his unconsciousness.  
  
“They’ve all been freed, you know. The house-elves. Most of them stayed with a contract for a Galleon a week and the right to leave whenever they like. Some of them have decided to look for work elsewhere, or travel, or goodness knows what. I’ve worked for that for so long, once it’s happened, it seems surreal. Dobby came to see me just to tell me thanks. I almost asked him what for.”  
  
Severus felt his fingertips getting numb and knew he would fall unconscious again soon. He welcomed it and closed his eyes to chivvy it along.  
  
“What for?”  
  
The lack of background noise brought him back a step from sleep, but only for a second. He reached for oblivion.  
  
“What for.”

  



End file.
